For school this year, we are doing a whirlwind trip through U.S. history. We've studied the Native Americans and what life was like before the America's were discovered by the Europeans and now we are studying the colonial time period.
So we took a field trip to our local Landis Valley Museum thanks to a free family pass available at our local library. We packed a lunch and on our way, we "dadnapped" dad from work. :-)
We started with the leather working shop. An artisan dressed in period clothes was creating a box for storing things in. He also showed us a pair of straight shoes that he had made. "Straight shoes" have no arches and can fit on either foot. People would typically switch the shoes regularly in order to give them even wear.
As we walked along, we examined the different types of fences. S wasn't so sure about petting the lamb.
The kids found a caretaker who had just unyoked a team of oxen. They wanted to know if the yoke was heavy, so the caretaker let them carry it into the barn for him. It is surprisingly light.
K imagined baking cookies in this outdoor oven.
We learned the different steps to creating thread and fabric from flax.
We got a chance to lay on this bed. This one has two "mattresses". The top one is full of feathers, the bottom full of rye to keep the bedbugs away. Typically the parents and grandparents would sleep in this bed. The children under 5 would sleep in the trundle at the foot of the bed. And that pot under the bed? I'll let you figure that out. :-)
This was about 3/4 of the way through. We were all starting to get tired out.
Talking to a lady knitting sleeping socks outside one of the houses from a later period.
Outside of a one-room schoolhouse. The kids posed for me on an old hitching post. V was particularly fascinated by the thought of riding a horse to school every day.
The last stop of the day was the Gunsmith Shop. Everyone else was tired and hungry, but V? Let the expression on his face show you his emotions. He even got to fire an old pistol.
